Letters to the Editor

When I first read “Westchester, Mar Vista properties are off city auction block” in the January 22nd issue of The Argonaut, I thought it was a parody of preservationists run amok, but then I decided the people quoted in the article were actually serious.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl feels the fire station sites would be good places to build affordable housing. Just how much housing, affordable or otherwise can be built on the rather small lot occupied by the Westchester station? (I’m not familiar with the Mar Vista station.)

The most absurd comment referred to “selling off our children’s legacy.” I definitely support historic preservation, provided there’s something historic to preserve. But it’s beyond me what is historic about an approximately 50-year-old architecturally uninspired brick rectangle.

Ed Schoch, Westchester

Westchester neighborhood near LMU is not so ‘quiet’

To the Editor:

I am a retired senior citizen who moved to Westchester last year in part due to its quiet residential streets.

It turns out there is an LMU (Loyola Marymount University) party house six homes north of me. On Saturday, January 24th, shortly before 11 p.m. I was awakened by yelling and screaming. I got up and saw a student outside of my bedroom window urinating by the side of my house.

I went to the front and saw scores of students milling about the street and my front yard. Loud and boisterous, drunk and disorderly, vulgar and disrespectful would be euphemisms for what I experienced in the next hour and a half.

I found another trespasser urinating by the north side of my house. Some time later I confronted three female students who had wandered up my driveway lurking in the shadows near my backyard apparently using drugs.

There were easily in excess of 100 students in the area. This nightmare caused me extreme emotional distress. The street, sidewalk and lawn in front of my house became Grand Central Station for dropoffs and pickups of students. At least a dozen cabs used the street and my driveway as a depot and parking lot.

The area was finally cleared just before 12:30 a.m. by four police units and a police helicopter.

If there is any good news that came from this event, it is the “Get Out of Jail Free” card with cab phone numbers that I found the next morning among the empty red beer cups and other debris on my lawn. At least a fraternity has encouraged students not to drink and drive.

Peter Palmer, Westchester

Urges use of correct cycling safety gear

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the news story in The Argonaut January 22nd, “Police seek help finding driver in hit-and-run accident at 20th and Arizona.”

Let’s hope he is recovering well. I can’t help but wonder, was he wearing a helmet? Did he have a headlight? Did he have reflectors on his pedals? Did he have a taillight?

If, like me, you are crazy enough to ride your bicycle in this town and don’t have these items, buy them. They might save you a ticket (yes, these items are required by law). They may also save your life.